CAPITAL ONE CUP ANALYSIS
Boro goalkeeper Tomas Mejias saved from Wayne Rooney and Ashley Young, while Michael Carrick blazed his effort over in between as Boro advanced to the quarter-finals with a 3-1 victory following a 0-0 draw after 120 minutes.
Louis van Gaal’s side were lacklustre on the night against a side that took Liverpool to penalties in this competition last year and eliminated Manchester City in the FA Cup – and United were fortunate to survive past 90 minutes, with Daley Blind twice surviving own-goal scares.
He saw one wild hack into the net chalked off for an offside flag against Kike before he breathed a huge sigh of relief as Sergio Romero’s mis-control from his back pass went narrowly wide.
Jesse Lingard struck a post in the 90th minute while Grant Leadbitter and Stewart Downing were denied by Romero in stoppage time.
The hosts should then have sealed their progress as they produced a spate of extra-time misses, Marouane Fellaini, twice, and substitute Anthony Martial guilty of missing close-range headers.
And Boro, losers of a 14-13 shoot-out epic at Anfield last season, made them pay on penalties as United joined Arsenal and Chelsea in crashing out at the last-16 stage.
The travelling contingent for this fixture stretched into five figures and they made their presence known vocally and visually by shining phone lights 10 minutes in as a show of solidarity for the job losses in the steel industry on Teesside.
They had cause to cheer when George Friend nutmegged Lingard and, moments later, the same player should have sent them in ecstasy. United failed to clear a corner from the left and Emilio Nsue’s ambitious overhead kick fell straight into Friend’s path, but the full-back placed his effort directly at Romero from six yards out.
For the hosts, the likes of Fellaini and Memphis Depay were doing little to prove they warranted consideration from Van Gaal in more high-profile fixtures, the latter in particular constantly losing possession with loose touches and firing a halfway line lob well over Mejias’ net.
Van Gaal had clearly seen enough at the interval, taking off James Wilson for Rooney, and the hosts at least tested Mejias with a series of shots down his throat, one from Depay that he almost fumbled back over his line.
That error would have made a blooper DVD but the one from Blind 12 minutes into the second period deserved to grace a cover.
Kike was flagged offside when hitting an effort against Romero’s far post and as the ball came back across the six-yard box, Blind somehow managed to slam the ball directly into the net with no one around him.
His head entered his hands but fortunately for him the linesman’s flag spared his blushes.
The comedy of errors continued, though, as Romero allowed Blind’s back pass to almost creep in at the back post in a manner reminiscent of ex-Aston Villa goalkeeper Peter Enckelman’s howler against Birmingham.
That, coupled with Leadbitter’s fierce shot at Romero, prompted Van Gaal to call for Martial too in place of the disappointing Depay with 19 minutes left.
The game was meandering towards extra-time until both sides came to life in the dying stages. Lingard, who hit the woodwork in the Manchester derby on Sunday, smashed an effort against a post before the visitors broke on the counter and Romero stood up to repel Leadbitter’s lob and then Downing’s drilled effort in stoppage time.
In extra time Fellaini was pushed in advance of Rooney and somehow failed to head in from close range on two occasions.
The hosts felt they should have been awarded a penalty when Martial flicked up onto Daniel Ayala’s outstretched hand and the Frenchman could have prevented the flurry of spot-kicks that soon followed had he nodded in Lingard’s head across in.
Rooney was the first to miss and although David Nugent blazed over, Carrick did likewise before Mejias guessed right again to deny Young and send Boro through.
With Sergio Aguero still injured, the spotlight remains on City’s other forwards and Wilfried Bony set them on the way to a comfortable win at the Etihad Stadium with a fine header.
The lively 19-year-old Iheanacho then got in on the act after De Bruyne had maintained his recent scoring streak with City’s second.
Yaya Toure added a fourth from the penalty spot and substitute Manu Garcia rounded off a good night’s work with a fifth in stoppage time after a Damien Delaney consolation.
City’s victory came without them ever really hitting top gear, although they were soon into their stride as De Bruyne seized on a Scott Dann mistake and burst clear only to shoot across goal after two minutes.
Palace threatened briefly as Yannick Bolasie sliced a volley wide and then both he and Joe Ledley had chances in a goalmouth scramble but Willy Caballero eventually dived on the ball.
Pablo Zabaleta and Bolasie had a bruising battle on the flank and both required lengthy treatment after a clash of heads. Zabaleta was bandaged in now trademark fashion while Bolasie was down for some time – accounting for most of the five minutes first-half stoppage time – before eventually getting back to his feet.
Worse did follow for Zabaleta as he was carried off on a stretcher after a clash with Wilfried Zaha early in the second half, but by then City were already 3-0 up and cruising.
Their opening goal came in the 22nd minute as Bony met a De Bruyne corner with a firm header that Wayne Hennessey could not keep out.
It was a fine finish and seemingly just the confidence boost the Ivorian needed as he continues to lead the line with Aguero out, but he could not follow it up.
With his next chance he sliced high and wide, and he could then only shoot tamely at Hennessey. There was an even poorer effort after the break as he completely miskicked in front of goal.
City doubled the lead just before the interval as Iheanacho raced onto a Fernando pass and pulled the ball back for De Bruyne to tuck in from close range.
Palace should have pulled one back immediately but Ledley blasted over after a cross squirmed out of Caballero’s grasp.
City upped the tempo to claim a third just before the hour. De Bruyne, who had himself tested Hennessey just moments earlier, squared for Iheanacho to bury a low shot.
Palace’s misfortune continued as Zaha slipped when in on goal and Patrick Bamford could not beat Caballero. They then needlessly conceded a penalty as Damien Delaney bundled over Mangala at a corner. Toure confidently converted from the spot.
Delaney pulled one back with a superb header with 89 minutes on the clock but 17-year-old Garcia, having been introduced as a late substitute, showed fine composure to claim City’s fifth.
Date published: Wednesday 28th October 2015 10:36
England defender Clyne, playing in an unfamiliar left-back position, netted his first goal for the club he joined in the summer to book a Capital One Cup quarter-final place.
Considering the club’s problems with their strikers of late – Christian Benteke not deemed 100 per cent fit and joining Daniel Sturridge and Danny Ings on the sidelines – it required someone else to step up.
Clyne would not have been many people’s choice as the match-winner but after three successive draws Klopp was more than happy to take it after making nine changes from the side which drew at home to Southampton on Sunday, with only Clyne and Divock Origi surviving.
The German handed first starts to academy graduates Joao Teixeira, Cameron Brannagan and Connor Randall – the right-back making his debut – and all fared well.
But the fact none of starting XI had scored this season and only two, Dejan Lovren and Joe Allen, had ever found the net for the club would have given Bournemouth, who made six changes, encouragement.
And considering the Liverpool defence’s long-held lack of confidence the result could have been different had they taken the lead after five minutes.
Junior Stanislas cut inside Lovren, leaving the Croatia international on his backside, but gave Adam Bogdan the chance to save with his legs.
The Bournemouth midfielder had two other chances in the first half with a close-range header and free-kick but on both occasions the Liverpool goalkeeper was more than a match.
Even with the regular generosity presented by their opponents’ defence visitors cannot afford to squander too many opportunities at Anfield and with £29million summer signing Roberto Firmino starting to find his feet in a central, attacking midfield role Liverpool began to dominate.
The Brazil international, who twice threatened with shots from outside the area, played a significant part in their 17th-minute goal as his slide pass picked out the perfectly-timed run of Teixeira.
Showing the cockiness of youth the 22-year-old Portuguese’s clever backheel beat Adam Federici and although Adam Smith got back to clear off the line Clyne, who had charged forward from left-back, fired home the weak clearance.
Firmino should have doubled the lead after half-time when Randall’s pressure forced Marc Pugh to concede possession to the Brazilian but his angled shot flew wide of the far post.
It may have been because it was only the League Cup, possibly because Bournemouth had offered little threat or even because there has been something of a sea-change at Anfield, but there was none of the previous anxiety a 1-0 lead would have held heading into the last 20 minutes.
The Kop appeared much more relaxed and that seemed to filter down to the players with Teixeira’s confidence still on a high as he forced Federici into a good save from his 20-yard free-kick.
But with no alarms at the other end Liverpool managed to hold on to a lead for only the fourth time this season to offer yet more progress for Klopp.
Despite an often disjointed performance, classy goals from Maya Yoshida and Graziano Pelle proved more than enough to defeat clearly demoralised opposition and to build on the promising form of recent weeks, even with Scott Sinclair’s stoppage-time penalty.
Southampton had made seven changes from the team which drew 1-1 at Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday and it repeatedly showed.
That James Ward-Prowse, Steven Caulker and Oriol Romeu were among those recalled to Ronald Koeman’s starting XI said much about the strength of their squad but instead of the often hoped-for hunger of fringe players they lacked cohesion.
Villa far from thrived in their first fixture since manager Tim Sherwood was sacked and Kevin MacDonald was placed in temporary charge but they at least showed incremental improvement and were the only team to pose a threat throughout the opening 45 minutes.
Three goalscoring opportunities fell to Rudy Gestede but the striker twice headed harmlessly wide and once at goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, who saved then as routinely as he did Leandro Bacuna’s near-post shot towards half-time.
It was defender Yoshida who surprisingly gave Southampton the lead six minutes into the second half.
Exchanging passes with Ward-Prowse having run from defence, Yoshida approached Villa’s penalty area with the composure of a seasoned striker before shooting with his left foot into the bottom right corner beyond goalkeeper Brad Guzan’s reach.
As is so often the case with a struggling side, much of the confidence Villa had had gradually disappeared, and prompted questions about why the experienced Micah Richards and Joleon Lescott were rested.
Substitute Jack Grealish, who benefitted more than any other from Sherwood’s brief reign, soon miskicked on the edge of the area but Gabriel Agbonlahor collected the loose ball and tested Stekelenburg with a curling shot.
If they were to have any chance of avoiding defeat the next goal was essential, but Pelle’s soon followed and ended the fixture as a contest.
Substitute Dusan Tadic had both time and space on the left wing, and with Pelle equally free in the penalty area he sent a perfectly-weighted pass into the striker’s path which he volleyed with his right foot beyond Guzan and into the bottom left corner.
Deep into stoppage time, Virgil van Dijk clumsily fouled substitute Jordan Ayew in the area to allow Sinclair to score from the resultant penalty, but even that barely felt a consolation.
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